Don’t push. Get pulled. Drew Houston, founder of Dropbox, said this: “The happiest and most successful people I know don’t just love what they do, they’re obsessed with solving an important problem, something that matters to them. They remind me of a dog chasing a tennis ball: Their eyes go a little crazy, the leash snaps, and they go bounding off, plowing through whatever gets in the way. . . . It’s not about pushing yourself. It’s about finding your tennis ball, the thing that pulls you.” We can live out our faith under obligation to all the things we…
[ Read More → ]My favorite restroom is the one where I step into infinity. Yes, a restroom. I walk into this room with mirrors on all four walls and ceiling that reflect infinitely in every direction but down. It plays with my eyes and mind, and I play along. What would it be like to step through the mirror into the images and enter another dimension? I want to go beyond myself, beyond the ordinariness of this world. I want to step through the mirror into infinity. Become countless me’s, all moving in sync with my original me, now…
[ Read More → ]I’m standing in northeastern Arizona in the Petrified Forest National Park. A dry wind rustles clumps of grass amid the treeless, barren hills. Broken sections of stone cylinders lie on their sides and populate the hills as far as the eye can see. The stones are big and small, in beautiful shades of white, tan, rusty brown, dark brown, and black. They all look like logs. Because they were. Scientist types tell us that 225 million years ago, when dinosaurs were just appearing—Day Five of Creation! (if you’re so inclined)—this very spot was a lush forest, green and full of…
[ Read More → ]I ask people why Jesus had to get strung up on a Roman cross and die. The typical answer I get from Christians is, “to save us from our sins.” I can tell they don’t know why and are just repeating what the preacher or Sunday school teacher told them. So why do Christians insist Jesus had to die? Why couldn’t God just shout from heaven, “I forgive you!” and be done with it? And why, oh why, isn’t it enough to simply be a good person? Let’s cut through the theological complexities to this: God is Holy. God is…
[ Read More → ]Our church is home to little lizards. They eat bugs, leave no mess, and scare no one. They’re my friends, and I name them all Leonard. Every one of them—Leonard. One weekday afternoon I took my little dog to the church office with me. I left her in the hallway for less than a minute and came back to see the carnage of dead Leonard lying on the carpet. His neck was bitten wide open, body crushed, and tail bitten off. My little Yorkshire Terrier, barely ten pounds and always cute, paced back and forth, apparently proud of her warrior’s…
[ Read More → ]If you have questions or comments related to this blog, please post them as blog comments rather than emailing me, because others may have similar thoughts, and I can respond to everyone. Yet I welcome emails for more personal questions or comments.
You may disagree with me or dislike what I write. If so, please be respectful in your comments. I reserve the right to delete comments that I determine to be disrespectful, offensive, misleading, or soliciting.
I grant you the right to quote me as long as you give proper credit for what I write. And I reserve the right to quote you and promise to give you proper credit.